By TOM OSANJO

In Summary

No Kenyan club has made it to the group stage of the Champions League and with Caf having expanded the number of teams to the group stage to 16, I think Gor Mahia can become the first Kenyan club to do so.

The challenge is on the players and the technical bench. But at the same time, the challenge is on the fans to go out and cheer the team.

They are the 12th player!

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As I pen down this second article this year, I want to pose a question; Where is the “Green Army”?

Last weekend when the season started, I attended Gor Mahia’s match against Nakumatt and to say the least, I was very disappointed.

The attendance was very poor, you could count the number of fans who were at the Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos. I doubt if there were more than 100 fans.

Together with my good pal Tony Anelka we started a campaign to encourage fans to attend the African Champions League game against Equatorial Guinea side Leones Vegetarianos and to some extent it worked, at least the 8,000-capacity stadium in Machakos was half full.

It was great seeing my friend George Odhiambo Bwana leading the cheering squad, Chief Shabana fan Kerubo Momanyi was also in attendance and so was Dennis Were who took his time off singing karaoke to attend the game.

But beyond that, the attendance was again disappointing. It is time we sent a rallying call to the Gor Mahia club fans who call themselves “Jotene” to return to the stadium.

Gor Mahia prides itself of having the biggest following in Kenya, It is thus disappointing when we have to use the social media to plead with fans to attend matches. Where are the travelling fans? Where is the “Green Army? Where is the passion?